It's quite a simple scenario for the Cornell men's soccer team: win on Sunday and grab a share of the Ivy League title. Of course, that's easier said than done. The tenth-ranked Big Red (5-1-0 Ivy, 14-1-1 overall) finish up its regular season against third-ranked Brown (6-0-0 Ivy, 14-1-0 overall) with the championship and an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament at stake.
The Bears come into the game guaranteed at least a tie for first place in the Ivy League following their narrow 2-1 victory over Harvard Sunday. Brown's Eric Block netted his eighth goal of the season in the winning effort, which dropped Harvard to 3-4-0 in the Ancient Eight and 5-7-3 overall.
Cornell will need strong efforts from co-Ivy League Player of the Week Rob Elliott and Ivy League leading goal scorer Eric Kusseluk is it hopes to prolong its ten-game winning streak--the longest in school history.
Saturday, Elliott tallied two goals and assisted on two others as the Big Red trounced Yale (1-5-0 Ivy, 5-9-2 overall), 5-1. Junior forward Kusseluk, who is currently riding a six-game goal scoring streak, also added a goal to secure the victory.
Two other Ivy League games round out the schedule this week. Dartmouth (2-4-0 Ivy, 5-11-0 overall) travels to Philadelphia to face lowly Penn (1-5-0 Ivy, 5-10-1 overall) following a week of mixed results. Wednesday, the Big Green put together its best offensive effort of the season, blasting four goals in a 4-2 home victory over Harvard.
On Saturday, however, Dartmouth fell back to earth, suffering its fifth shutout of the season at the hands of fourth-place Columbia (3-4-0 Ivy, 9-8-0 overall), 2-0. Senior midfielder Rikki Dadason capped off his stellar career in style, scoring his fiftieth and final goal for the victorious Lions. That, coupled with his two overtime strikes against Army, earned him a share of the Ivy League Player of the Week honors.
Yale and Princeton (4-2-0 Ivy, 12-4-0 overall) will close out their seasons at Princeton Saturday. The Bulldogs hope to rebound from their humiliating loss at Cornell and end their disappointing season on a high note.
Yale's hopes ride on junior mid-fielder Julio Guzman, whose pair of goals knocked off Lehigh Wednesday. Princeton survived a scare against Penn Sunday, taking sixty-nine minutes to get on the scoreboard, prevailing 1-0. Senior midfielder Jesse Marsch, the Ivy League's current scoring leader (15 goals, 5 assists for 35 points), will finish up his college career on Tiger turf. He turned in one of his best performances of the season against Adelphi Wednesday, notching a hat-trick and an assist to move atop the scoring list.
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